Misfits
by TheSwordofGodricGryffindor
Summary: Crystal and her friends never get to go on a quest. Ever. But that all changes when the camp gets a visit from a god. They are selected to embark on their first quest. However as things get hard they begin to think that they may be in over their heads. *Discontinued!*
1. A New Camper

**A New Camper**

Crystal, a tall, brunette demigod, sat by Thalia's tree and stared blankly at the sunset. She had always enjoyed sunsets, but at the moment she was too frustrated to really notice it.

"How come Percy and Annabeth get all the quests?" she wondered aloud. "Even Grover always gets to go with them! I mean, come _on_! I'm athletic, I'm good with a bow, I'm fast, I'm a freaking daughter of _Apollo_, for crying out loud, and I don't get to do _anything_! Why should they get all the fun?" She stood up, kicking a stone angrily for emphasis, and began to pace back and forth.

"My, my, still ranting?"

Crystal turned to see Katie, the dark-haired, brown-eyed, and all around shady-looking daughter of Hermes leaning against Thalia's tree behind her.

"I don't have any valuables on me," Crystal said matter-of-factly to the sixteen-year-old.

"I know; I already checked," Katie replied nonchalantly, fiddling with the bottom of her fingerless gloves. She pushed off from the tree. "I can't believe you're still talking about Percy's new quest. Seriously, everyone knows he gets picked for every single quest that comes up. It's just the way things go. He's smart, strong, a good leader, he's had tons of experience and hasn't gotten killed yet, after so many years, and to top it all of, he looks like Logan Lerman!"

Crystal couldn't help but smile slightly at that last comment. Even she admitted that Logan Lerman was kind of hot, and she _never_ said things like that!

"Plus this is a _really_ important quest," The daughter of Hermes continued, "that's why Percy was sent on it."

"But he's a junior camp director," Crystal replied miserably, "he shouldn't be allowed on quests."

"Look, the rumor is that his quest had something to do with Poseidon, so of course he'd be picked to go on it!"

"Your point?"

"My _point_?" Katie asked incredulously. "My _point _is that they left_ three days ago_. My _point_ is that it's old news, and you're still ranting about it! Come on, they're way older than us, and they've been on quests since they were twelve. They've never failed before. They're the first pick because they consistently do exactly what they are supposed to do. Besides, it's time to face the facts: we never get to do anything! I mean, I've been here for four years and I still haven't gotten a quest. Nothing. Zilch. A big fat zero." A loud conch horn blew in the distance, cutting off whatever Katie was about to say next. "Hear that?" she asked. "Time to get back to our cabins. Another incredibly boring day at Camp Half-Blood has passed. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah," Crystal gave a slight sigh, "tomorrow. Hey, Katie?

"What?"

"Do you think we'll ever go on a quest?" she asked.

"I wouldn't hold my breath."

* * *

Crystal woke up early the next morning as she always did so she could do a quick run around the camp grounds and hop in the shower before breakfast. The sun was already shining, so naturally, as a daughter of Apollo, she ran faster than she would have if it was a cloudy day. When she was finished running, and was doing a cool-down jog, Katie caught up with her, huffing and puffing.

"What is it?" Crystal asked.

"I just saw it! I mean, I was just sitting there, and . . ."

"What? What?" Crystal was practically bouncing up and down with energy. Unlike Katie, she wasn't out of breath. She was used to running every morning, and obviously Katie wasn't.

"Someone was running up Half-Blood Hill with a satyr!" Katie exclaimed.

Crystal blinked a few times and tugged on a strand of her light brown hair. "You mean, like, another demigod?"

"Yes! Duh!" Katie cried, exasperated. "What else could she be? But, more importantly, they're being chased by monsters! Lots of them!"

"What? Well then what are we doing standin' around here? Come on!" Crystal dashed towards Thalia's tree with Katie on her heels. When the two girls reached the tree, they could see a satyr practically dragging a young woman up the hill as a group of several harpies flew overhead, shrieking and raking the two figures with their sharp fingernails.

"Those aren't _our_ harpies," Katie warned unnecessarily.

"We've got to help her!" Crystal cried. She started forward, then stopped abruptly. "Wait, I don't have a weapon!"

Katie pulled a dagger off her belt and handed it to her friend. "You do now." She herself grabbed a brace of daggers out of their sheaths and sprinted after Crystal towards the fight.

The harpies turned and screeched at the two half-bloods racing towards them. One dove towards Katie, but with her lightning-fast reflexes the young thief ducked under the monster, then spun around to stab it in the back. With a glass-shattering scream, the harpy turned to dust, something all monsters tended to do when killed. Crystal quickly joined the fray and stepped between the two strangers and the harpies.

"Go!" she ordered. "Up the hill, now! Once you get past the tree, you'll be safe." The young woman looked up at Crystal. The daughter of Apollo could see the terror and indecision reflected in the pair of wide eyes the woman looked at her with.

As Crystal was distracted, a harpy flew up behind her and raked its fingernails across her back, leaving her orange Camp Half-Blood shirt in tatters and giving her a deep wound. She screamed in pain and spun around, barely dodging another swipe from the harpy.

"Go!" she yelled again, blocking another attack.

The young woman nodded, and she scrambled up the hill along with her satyr friend. By the time they passed the tree, Katie and Crystal were back to back, fighting for their lives against the swarm of monsters. Each demigod bore a number of wounds, but they refused to let their guard down.

"Hey, Katie?" Crystal called, sinking her knife into the heart of another harpy.

"What?" the daughter of Hermes grunted as she blocked another strike.

"Do you think trying to rescue that demigod out alone was a dumb idea?"

"Yeah," Katie replied, "I definitely do."

Suddenly they heard the sound of a horn being blown. The harpies heard it too, and with shrieks of terror they flew away, leaving Crystal and Katie alone in a pool of their own blood.

"Is that . . .?" Crystal began.

"The Ares cabin patrol? Yes, I believe it is," Katie responded, relieved. Then, as if one cue, both girls blacked out, crumpling against each other.

* * *

Katie woke with a start, the taste of ambrosia in her mouth. She coughed a few times, then sat up slowly.

"What happened?" she asked groggily.

"You acted like an idiot, that's what," came a voice Katie knew could only be one person. The camp director, Mr. D, or Dionysus, as he was better known.

"Gee, thanks," Katie said, but she couldn't muster the energy to make her words sound sarcastic. "What about that demigod?"

"She's fine," answered another, more gentle voice with a slight southern drawl that made 'fine' come out 'fahne'.

Katie looked up to see a brunette girl of about fifteen holding a bowl and spoon.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Micaela, and I'd like to let you know that I think someone from the Apollo cabin should be nursing you back to health, not me. A daughter of Athena has more valuable things to do." She rolled her grey eyes.

Katie wanted to ask why, if she was a daughter of Athena, did she have brown hair instead of blond, but she was too slow, and Micaela talked first. "Here, take some more—"

"Ugh, stop shoving things down my throat!" Katie groaned and pushed the bowl of ambrosia away. "I'm fine, so you guys can leave me alone now." She stood up to leave. Immediately, she regretted it, because she felt lightheaded, but she forced herself to stay on her feet.

"You might want to sit down," Micaela warned.

"Go away!" Katie grunted, pushing her way past Micaela and out the door. She blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to the direct sunlight. Apparently, classes were in session, because she could see from across the creek that the archery range was full. She perched on a fence and stared out at the camp as she attempted to regain some of her strength.

"You're up, I see," Crystal said as she came over and sat down on the fence beside Katie. "How are you feeling?"

"Like crap."

"Tell me about it."

"Hey, do you know anything about what happened to that demigod we saved?"

"Her? Oh, yeah. Apparently she's über important or something like that, because Chiron whisked her away before anyone could really find out anything more than her name. Sarah."

"Katie, I am trying to help you," Micaela said as she burst out of the cabin. "Can't you at least let me try?"

"I said I was fine, okay?" Katie said, annoyed. "Go away. Don't you have things to do?"

"I have to help you. That's what Chiron told me to do." Micaela placed her hands on her hips.

Katie opened her mouth to speak again, but Crystal cut her off.

"Hey, check it out. Looks like something's going on at the archery range."

The three girls could see a group of ever-increasing campers standing around. Shouts could be heard even from across the creek.

"I wonder what's going on," Micaela said. "Shall we go see?"

"Yes, let's," agreed Crystal.

The three girls vaulted the wooden fence rail and jogged towards the scene. As they approached, a member of the Hermes cabin dashed towards them.

"Come on! We need all the help we can get!" he called, waving them towards the large group of campers.

The three demigods looked at each other and shrugged.

As they continued towards the crowd, they could hear what the campers were saying. There seemed to be two groups. One was much smaller than the other, consisting of only ten campers, but they had a look of confidence on their faces.

"You children of the Big Three think you're _so_ superior to us!" a camper from the larger side yelled.

"Now, now," a camper, obviously from the Poseidon cabin, stepped in, "nobody ever said anything about us being super—"

"That's because we _are_ superior," a tall, pale-skinned camper interrupted. Judging by his black clothes and overall depressed look, Katie figured he was a son of Hades.

"Then why don't you step up here and _prove_ it?" challenged an Ares camper.

"Because I don't waste my time on_ idiots _from the Ares cabin," replied the Hades camper. "Especially since you're from a _lesser_ cabin."

"Hey!" a daughter of Aphrodite harrumphed. "We aren't the lesser cabins! They are!" She pointed to the children of Hecate, Nemesis, Iris, and other minor gods.

"Not true!" snapped a Nemesis camper.

"Alright, everyone calm down!" Katie interrupted, stepping in between the two groups, "We all know that if we got into a fight the kids of the big three would lose because there's a lot less of them, so there's no point in fighting."

Just then, a member of the Zeus cabin gave her a kick in the back and sent her sprawling to the ground.

"Think again," the dark-skinned camper gloated.

Katie gave an agitated groan and rolled onto her feet. _I'm sure I wouldn't get in too much trouble if I gave him a few cuts, _she thought. She gave one of her daggers a fancy flip and dropped into a fighting stance. She was about to charge the camper and catch him off balance when suddenly a loud and incredibly angry voice boomed from across the field.

"What is going _on_?"

A murmur of horror rippled through the crowd as each camper turned to see Mr. D standing in front of them. His naturally red face was flushed even more with rage, and despite his short and fat build, he still looked intimidating. The campers also noticed a woman with flaming red hair standing behind him that most of them recognized.

"Well?" Dionysus's eyes flashed as he looked from camper to camper. Everyone remained silent. "Oh, you've all lost your tongues, I see. Alright, fine, no breakfast and no dessert today!" he yelled. Then, as if realizing that those two things didn't seem like enough punishment, he added, "and I'll think of something else incredibly nasty for you to do. I _was_ going to announce that the Oracle, Rowan Mare—"

"Rachel Dare," the woman corrected.

"Renee Care has come to visit camp, and _maybe_ I would have even held some sort of celebration, but apparently you campers are either too stupid or too naive to realize that fighting with each other just doesn't 'fly' around here! Everyone back to your cabins, now! Before I turn you all into chipmunks!"

Everyone muttered in unison, "Yes, Mr. D."

"Mr. D," that tall Hades camper took a step forward, "I just want to say, I've always admired your leadership skills, and I think you're looking particularly dashing today—"

"Shut up, Alfred," Mr. D snapped. "Don't try to butter me up!"

"My name's Alec, sir," the camper mumbled.

"Whatever Alex, get to your cabin!"

"Alec," he muttered as he shuffled away. "Come on, Megan, let's get out of here," he said to the other Hades cabin member, who was much shorter than him. The two of them scampered off before Mr. D could yell at them anymore.

"Well?" Dionysus's eyes were still flashing angrily. "Did you all lose your hearing too? Get out of here!"

"Yes Mr. D," everyone said and quickly ran away.


	2. The Prophecy

**The Prophecy**

"How delightfully boring," Alec muttered up to the ceiling as he lay on his bed. "We've been stuck in our rooms for at least four hours. I feel like a child being punished, and I am _not_ a child."

"Alec, would you be quiet?" Megan's voice held a tinge of annoyance to it. "It hasn't been that long. Besides, it's really hard to read when you're talking."

"Harry Potter?" Alec asked.

"Duh," Megan responded, not looking up from her book. "Just because I've read them all through at least three times doesn't make them any less awesome."

"I see." The son of Hades gave a sigh of sheer boredom. He pulled a dart out of his dartboard (no one was quite sure why he had one) and threw it at a poster on the wall.

"_Alec_!" Megan whined. She did look up from her book this time. "Why did you throw that at my poster of Taylor Lautner?" She reached up and pulled the dart out of the poster. "Look, now he's got a hole in his face!"

"He looks better that way."

Megan gave an indignant huff. "How can you say that? He's totally hot!"

"He has nothing on me," Alec replied.

Megan stared at him for about five seconds and then burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh, but are you _serious_? You, _hotter_ than Taylor?" She was almost rolling on the floor, she was laughing so hard.

"At least one of us finds mirth in our predicament," Alec said dryly. In annoyance, and mostly to block out the sound of his half-sister, Alec placed some earphones in his ears and turned on his mp3 player. "That's better."

* * *

Crystal was thumbing through one of her old magazines when she suddenly heard a knock at the door. She looked up, startled, but then just went back to reading.

"Crystal, it's your turn to get the door," one of her half-siblings informed her.

"Fine," Crystal grunted. She rolled off of her bed as the knocking persisted. "I'm coming," she grumbled. She opened the door, half expecting to see Mr. D or Chiron, but instead was shocked to see Katie standing in front of her.

"I've got some news about the new half-blood!" she whispered.

"What are you doing?" Crystal hissed back. "Aren't you supposed to be in your room? If Mr. D finds out . . ."

"He won't," Katie insisted. "Now are you going to let me in, or what?"

"Alright, but if you get caught . . ."

"I won't. I never do," Katie responded confidently as she stepped inside the Apollo cabin. "Alright, so here's the news . . ."

"Hold on one second," Crystal interrupted, "I want to know, how did you get this information anyways? How did you get out of your room?"

Katie rolled her eyes. "Are you _really_ going to get me to answer such trivial things?" When Crystal continued to stare hard with her bright blue eyes locked on Katie's. the Hermes camper sighed. "Fine. Really, it's quite easy. I mean, no one's actually guarding our room or anything. Besides, if someone did check on the Hermes cabin, they wouldn't notice if one or two people were gone. Our cabin's always full of kids. That's what happens when you have to take in all the noobs. Anyways, I just snuck out and listened outside of a few cabins and then spied on Chiron."

"You were spying on _Chiron_?" Crystal's voice rose.

"Shh! Not so loud!" Katie hissed. "Anyways, he had the new kid with him. Sarah, or whatever her name is. He was talking about being responsible and a leader and all this other crap. Well I was able to piece everything together and I figured it out," Katie's voice dropped. "We've got another kid of the Big Three on our hands."

"Another?" Crystal tugged on her hair thoughtfully. "Man, it seems like Zeus, Hades and Poseidon have been working overtime to get the number of their kids back up ever since the prophecy came true." Crystal tapped her chin a few times. "I bet you five bucks she's a daughter of Hades.

"What makes you say that?"

"Seriously, she's totally daughter of Hades material! Just the way she looks and acts."

"We only saw her for five minutes at the most," Katie said, then added, "I'll take that bet. Daughter of Zeus for sure."

"You're on," Crystal grinned, "just make sure you've got my money ready."

"Getting cocky, aren't we? Oh, and there's something else I should add, something really weird . . ."

"What? What?"

"Well," Katie gave a dramatic pause, "she's sixteen."

"So?" The information seemed unimportant to Crystal at first, then suddenly it hit her. "Wait a minute, she's sixteen? What the . . . but she . . . she just came to Camp Half-Blood, how could she be? I mean, monsters smell out most of us at around twelve, and if she's a kid of the Big Three, then how . . . shouldn't they have sniffed her out faster? She can't be a kid of the Big Three then—it just doesn't make sense. She's probably just a Dionysus camper or something." Then she realized something even more important. "But what about the deal Percy made with the gods . . . about them claiming their kids by the time they're twelve? Would they break it so soon?"

"Look, I know what I heard. It doesn't add up to me either, but I've got a feeling that she_ is_ a kid of the Big Three, and if I've learned one thing over the years it's to trust my instincts." Katie was about to leave when she stopped and turned back to face her friend. "Oh, and there's one other thing I should add. I'm not the only one who snuck out of my cabin. There's a creepy looking Zeus girl sneaking around."

Crystal froze. "Is she platinum blonde? With bright green eyes and a scar on her arm?"

"Yup," Katie said, "that would be her. You know her?"

"In passing, but I uh . . . became 'well acquainted' with her today, when I uh . . . broke her arm during the squabble between cabins."

"You broke her arm?"

"I swear, it was an accident!"

Katie gave a laugh. "Actually I was going to praise you! That'll teach the Zeus cabin!"

"I'm going to get in so much trouble," Crystal buried her face in her hands. "She said she'd get even with me! Now she's probably waiting to break _my_ arm."

"Oh, come on, you can take her! Plus, she wouldn't attack you in your own cabin!"

"I don't know," Crystal said hesitantly. "All the same, I'd rather not get caught by her."

"Well you can come back and hide in my cabin if you wish," Katie suggested, "it's all the same to me." She opened the door. "You coming?"

Crystal gave a sound that almost sounded like a yelp. "She's right outside the door! Close it, Katie!" Crystal slammed the door shut, panting heavily. "This is not good, this is _so_ not good!"

"Oh, come on, Crystal," Katie rolled her brown eyes, "she's not that tough."

"Are you kidding me? She'll _kill_ me!"

"She won't _kill_ you, but if you're really that terrified of her, then _come on_." Katie pushed her way past all the members of Apollo cabin to the back of the room to the single window the room possessed. She pushed up the glass and climbed out of it. "Come on," she repeated.

Crystal hesitantly came over.

"What are you doing?" one of her half-brothers asked. "When Mr. D finds out, there's no telling what he'll do to you."

"He won't find out, because you're not going to tell him, right?"

Crystal's siblings looked at each other and grinned. "No, the Apollo cabin looks out for its own. Good luck!"

"Thanks," Crystal smiled, and climbed through the window.

"Come on," Katie urged her, "we have to get out of the open." She pointed to a few buildings on the other side of the field. "We can hide in those if you want, but we'll need to get back to our cabins before anyone finds out that we're gone."

"Right. Let's go." Crystal gave a nod and started sprinting across the field. The two reached the buildings with no problem and slipped inside. The room was totally quiet. In fact, it was so quiet it was a bit unsettling.

"Come this way," came a voice from the next room, followed by the clapping of hooves.

"It's Chiron!" Katie hissed. "Crap, he's coming this way! Hurry! Over here!" She dragged Crystal around the corner and pulled her into the shadows. They waited for a few painful minutes and finally stood up. "I think he's gone."

"Where are we?" Crystal asked.

"Not sure actually," Katie said. Suddenly she stiffened. "Quiet! Chiron's coming back!" She pulled Crystal back and started down a hall. "Down here."

Suddenly they could hear someone mumbling to himself. "Mr. D!" Katie looked around frantically. "We're trapped! They're going to find us!"

"Hey, what about this?" Crystal pointed to a door that Katie had missed in her first quick scan.

"It'll do! Let's go!" Katie said in a hushed whisper, then opened the door and slipped inside. Crystal quickly followed and closed the door behind them.

"That was too close," Crystal muttered. Then she looked around. "Hold on, where are we?"

"This is so not good!" Katie hissed and backed up. "Look!"

Crystal broke out in a cold sweat when she saw what Katie was pointing to. "It's. . . the Oracle."

Sure enough, Rachel Dare was sitting on a chair reading an art magazine.

"Come on," Katie urged, "let's get out of here before . . ."

"Hey, aren't _all_ campers supposed to be in their rooms?" Rachel asked as she looked up.

"Umm . . . Right. About that. We just . . . uh . . ."

"Had important matters to discuss with you!" Katie quickly put in.

"Oh, okay," Rachel tilted her head to the side. "Like what?"

"Like, uh . . ." Katie drew a blank.

"Like . . . why'd you come to camp?" Crystal asked.

"Nice save," Katie whispered.

Rachel narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure you're not just using this as an excuse to be out of your cabin?" She raised an eyebrow, then shrugged as if it didn't really matter. "Well, I felt this calling, like I needed to come here for some reason. Plus I wanted to say 'hi' to some old friends. . ."

"Percy and Annabeth?" Crystal guessed.

"Yeah, but it appears as if I've missed them." She changed the subject. "The camp is looking really nice, and it's much fuller than it was the very first time I was here, after the war with Kronos. Of course, I've been here several times since, but it still looks as if there are a lot more campers than last time."

Katie nodded. She didn't remember the war. She hadn't arrived at camp until several years later, but she knew the stories. How Kronos tried to destroy Olympus. Percy Jackson and his friends had stopped him, but a lot of campers had died in the process.

"Yeah, well we better get going," Crystal began.

"Oh, I understand," Rachel smiled, then suddenly she dropped her magazine and hunched over. "Not again!" she cried. When she looked back up her eyes were a creepy green.

Crystal's eyes went wide, Katie felt faint. The Oracle was giving them a prophecy. Rachel's voice sounded hollow and far away as she spoke:

"_Eight children must go where no one desires_

_Daughter of wisdom and son of fires,_

_Child of sky, daughter of health,_

_Offspring of death, girl of stolen wealth,_

_An unknown camper will make a pivotal choice,_

_She will discover her parent and find her voice,_

_The Sun God's pleas will not go unheard,_

_The children will leave, though it seems absurd,_

_A once defeated foe shall rise again,_

_The path will be hard and full of pain_

_Good fortune will come if you pass the test,_

_Camp Half-blood will ring with your success,_

_But are you prepared to pay the cost?_

_Choose wisely or all will be lost."_

Then, just like that the Oracle's eyes returned to normal and she collapsed. Katie and Crystal stood frozen in place, still recovering from the shock.

"Did . . . Did you hear that?" Katie asked in a shaky voice.

Crystal nodded slowly. "What did she mean, an unknown camper?"

"This is really weird. Like, _really_ weird. R-Rachel, what did you mean?"

"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked, fully recovered. "Oh no . . . Did I give you a prophecy?"

Katie and Crystal glanced at each other and an unspoken message passed between them.

"No . . ." Katie said. "No, we were just about to leave."

"Alright, come back and talk to me anytime!" Rachel said cheerfully, accepting their lie easily.

"Bye!" the two girls called back, hiding their fear, as they left the room.

They sprinted down the field and quickly climbed back through the Apollo cabin's window.

"Crystal, where have you been?" One camper asked, "You've been gone for ages!"

"Ages?" Crystal shook her head in disbelief. "Has Mr. D been here?"

"Yeah," one of Crystal's half-sisters said, "but we were able to conceal your absence. He told us we're all going to have to clean all of Camp Half-Blood inside and out because of the fight we had . . . Hey, what's wrong? You look like you've seen the Oracle."

Crystal gave a nervous laugh. "Seen the Oracle, that's a good one." The members of her cabin glanced at each other.

"Well," Katie cut in, "I'd really best be going. Uh, have fun you guys!" She quickly retreated out of the room.

"So," one Apollo cabin member began. "What have you been doing?"

* * *

"Well," Micaela gave a sigh and rubbed her forehead, "your guess is as good as mine. You _really_ should tell Chiron about this."

Crystal and Katie exchanged a nervous glance.

"No that's fine," Katie said quickly. "We'll figure it out, I'm sure. We just need to take the prophecy apart, bit by bit."

Micaela gave another sigh. "Fine, as long as we get it all done before curfew."

"Deal," Crystal said. "Now, let's get started."

"Alright," Micaela began, "well the first thing y'all have to remember is that the prophecies of the Oracle of Delphi often have hidden meanings. Probably nothing we guess will be right. But then, there's the odd prophecy where we can pick out the true meaning right away, so we'll try anyways. The first line is a bit tricky. Obviously it's about eight campers going somewhere no one else wants to go, but I have no idea where that is, so we'll just move on. Alright, so the next line I think is talking about who will go. 'Daughter of Wisdom'is definitely a daughter of Athena . . ."

"Which you are," Crystal cut in.

Micaela gave her an annoyed glare. "Well, obviously, but that doesn't mean I'm the one the prophecy is talking about. There are lots of Athena campers. Anyways, moving on, who do you think the 'Son of Fires' part is talking about?"

"Well not the Poseidon cabin, that's for sure," Crystal pointed out.

"Jeez, thanks Crystal," Katie retorted sarcastically. "We _really_ thought a son of the sea god would be referred to as the 'Son of Fires'." She rolled her eyes.

"Well it's also not the Aphrodite, Dionysus, Zeus, Demeter, Hermes or Athena cabins," Micaela added.

"Hmm, well, possibly the Apollo cabin since he's the god of the sun, but I highly doubt that. Also, the Hades cabin seems unlikely . . ." Crystal said.

"What about Hephaestus?" Katie suggested.

"I _was_ about to propose that idea, and it seems the most likely option," said Micaela.

"Alright, next line," Crystal cut in. "'Child of Sky' can only mean a Zeus camper, but what about 'Daughter of Health'? Who the Hades is that supposed to be?"

"Well . . ." Micaela leaned back in her chair and tapped her chin. "I do believe it's you, Crystal."

"What? Me?"

"Do I really need to explain everything? Isn't it obvious?" Micaela asked. "Oh . . . right. Sorry, I forgot you're not an Athena camper. Well, Apollo's the god of healing, right? So 'Daughter of Health' must be an Apollo camper, and it would only make sense if that person was you, since you pretty much have to be part of the prophecy. Seeing as you were one of the people Rachel gave the prophecy to."

"Makes sense," Katie said. "Now, next line. 'Offspring of Death'?"

"Hades," Micaela answered. "It's definitely the Hades cabin, and since there are only two Hades campers it's obviously both of them."

"Alright, and 'Girl of Stolen Wealth' is . . .?"

"You," Crystal cut in, "Hermes is the god of thieves, and as Micaela said earlier we have to be in the prophecy."

"You're really getting the hang of this," Micaela grinned. "I'm a good influence on the two of y'all."

"_You_? A good influence on _us_? Hold on," Crystal began.

"Guys, we're getting side-tracked, and the sun is already setting," Katie interrupted. How about this next line? 'An unknown camper will make a pivotal choice'."

"I'm certain the unknown camper is someone who isn't claimed," Micaela said. "So this person is obviously going to do something important. Now the next line seems to state that she will discover who her parent is and be able to speak up."

"Makes sense," Katie agreed. "The next line is, 'The Sun God's pleas will not go unheard'."

"Well, Apollo's the sun god, so he's probably pleading for help or something," Micaela offered.

"What? My dad's in trouble? That's not good . . ." A worried look crossed Crystal's face.

"Crystal, calm down," Micaela soothed. "It's just a suggestion." She looked back at the piece of paper in front of her. "Now the line, 'The children will leave, though it seems absurd,'is probably saying that the eight campers answer Apollo's pleas and go . . . some place, which obviously is going to seem absurd."

"Wow, I'm glad we have you along! You're cutting through the prophecy like scissors through paper! It would have taken me and Katie much longer to figure this stuff out by ourselves."

"Katie and _I_. But, thanks," the Athena camper grinned, then went back to work. "The next two lines are also pretty simple. It's talking about some sort of test that, if you beat it, will cause good stuff to happen . . ." she paused. "But I don't like the sound of this next bit. It seems to me like something's going to have to be sacrificed for the reward . . ."

"Styx," Crystal sighed. "I hate sacrifices."

"My words exactly," Katie said, taking the piece of paper off the table and rolling it back up.

"Y'all really need to talk to Chiron about this," Micaela stated.

"We'd get in so much trouble for sneaking out!" Crystal protested.

"Fine, suit yourselves," Micaela stood up. "_I'm_ going back to my cabin now. It's almost curfew. I'll see y'all tomorrow, at the water-balloon toss." Turning on her heel she briskly walked back towards the cabins, leaving Crystal and Katie alone with their thoughts.


	3. The Water Balloon Competition

**Water Balloon Competition **

"Come on! We're going to be late for the annual camp water-balloon toss!" Megan cried.

"Oh imagine that, late for the water balloon toss, what a tragedy that would be," Alec said snidely.

"Oh come on, it'll be fun!"

"I'm ecstatic," Alec muttered dryly.

"Surely you don't want to pass up the chance to prove to the other cabins that we're superior?" Megan asked slyly with a slight eyebrow raise.

"I can't wait." This time Alec's voice held a tiny bit of interest.

Megan grinned. "Let's do this."

* * *

Katie's fingers twitched in anticipation. She watched as Mr. D, Chiron and Rachel each climbed into a special box seat, looking down into the arena. Then Mr. D began giving the rules.

"Alright," Mr. D announced in a not-too-thrilled voice. "The annual water balloon toss is today. Now, personally I wanted the cancel it but Chiron insisted we still have it. So let me just give you the rules so we can get on with it. First, two people from different cabins will start of with the water balloon. The objective of the game is to make sure you don't drop the balloon, because if it breaks on your side, your cabin is out and someone from another cabin will take your place. Once every cabin has sent one person in, we will see who the winner is." Dionysus pulled two pieces of paper out of a hat. "Now, the first two cabins that will be participating are the Nemesis cabin and the Hermes cabin."

Katie walked forward since her cabin had nominated her to be the player. "I'm going wipe the floor with the Nemesis camper," she muttered. Despite the fact that this was just a water balloon toss, it got very intense. For the campers it wasn't just a water balloon toss, it was a chance to prove that your cabin was the best.

Katie crouched into position as the Nemesis camper threw the balloon towards her. She caught it with ease and threw it back.

"Take two paces back," Mr. D said, as he took a sip from his diet coke.

Katie caught the balloon again. "Is that all you've got?" she taunted and lobbed the object back.

"Oh, I'll show you what I've got," the Nemesis camper hissed as they took two more paces back. She flung it with a little more power but Katie easily caught it and sent it back before the Nemesis camper could regain her balance. The water balloon broke on the ground. A few shrieks arose from the Aphrodite cabin, even though the water was nowhere near them.

"You are so gonna pay for that!" cried the soaked Nemesis camper.

"Do your worst!" said Katie, but she instantly realized that she would regret it.

"Nemesis cabin is out!" Mr. D announced. He drew another name out of the hat. "Next up is the Ares cabin."

Katie cracked her knuckles loudly as a rather large camper took his place across from her. "Let's do this."

Katie got to start off with the balloon so she gave it a gentle toss, just to test the Ares camper. He caught it easily, and with a grin threw it back. It sailed over Katie's head and she was forced to sprint backwards. She rolled, and was just able to catch it before it hit the ground. The Hermes cabin erupted in cheers.

"Watch your throws," Mr. D warned the Ares camper without much enthusiasm. "If the balloon had broken, you would have been out, not her."

"Yeah, watch your throws," Katie grumbled, and threw the balloon back.

The Ares cabin caught it again. Katie expected him to throw another far one, but instead he threw it with all his might (which was a lot) right in front of her. Katie was caught by surprise and tried to dive for the balloon but it broke on the ground and she got soaked.

"Hermes cabin is out!"

Boos came from the Hermes cabin, some protested that it was an unfair throw, but the competition continued on.

"Next up is the Aphrodite cabin," Mr. D said.

All the Aphrodite campers started shoving each other towards the line, none of them wanting to participate. Eventually one was forced up to the line, but as soon as the Ares camper threw the balloon she shrieked and ran away, not even attempting to catch it.

"Aphrodite cabin is out!"

The Aphrodite campers all crowded around the one camper and sympathized about her ruined hair and make-up, even though absolutely no water had been spilled on her.

"Aphrodite campers. They're so amusing," Crystal chuckled to Katie. "Oh, by the way, nice job. Even though you got out, that Ares camper totally threw a cheap shot."

"Yeah, I know," Katie rubbed the back of her neck and gave a sly grin. "He's totally going to get ice in his bed tonight."

The next camper up was from the Poseidon cabin, and Katie and Crystal watched as he won ten rounds against campers from Demeter, Dionysus, Hecate, Iris and some other minor god cabins. Eventually everyone began grumbling, so Mr. D pulled the Poseidon camper and announced that the water balloon toss would continue without him and then at the end whoever was winning would go against him.

"Next up we'll have the Hades cabin and the Hephaestus cabin."

Megan elbowed her half-brother. "Come on, Alec, I did it last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that, _and_ the year before that. It's your turn."

Alec grumbled, but eventually stepped up to the line. "Let's just get this over with."

Chants of "go Isaac!" arose from the Hephaestus cabin as a tall, dark brown-haired camper stepped up across from Alec.

"Game on!"

Alec started and gave the balloon an unenthusiastic toss, which Isaac easily caught. They threw it back and forth a bit until they were ten paces apart. Then Isaac gave it a powerful toss. The Hades camper disappeared in a globe of darkness and then appeared where the balloon was falling, catching it easily. Angry cries came from the other campers.

Mr. D gave an annoyed I-couldn't-care-less sigh. "Alfred, you have just cheated."

"It's _Alec_, Sir, and you never specified that we _couldn't_ use our powers," Alec replied.

"You know it's in the rules Arthur, don't pretend to be unaware. You can't just cheat," Mr. D responded. "Hades cabin is out! Next is the Athena cabin."

"Alright, Micaela!" Katie and Crystal cheered as their friend stepped up to the line.

Isaac tossed the balloon to Micaela, which she effortlessly caught. Then she gently threw it back, which was easily caught by her opponent.

"You can do better," Isaac grunted.

"I can," Micaela responded coolly, "I was just testing you." She caught his throw with ease and then held the balloon for a few precious moments. "Now, if I throw it at a seventy-five degree angle . . ." she muttered to herself, her voice trailing off. "Alright!" She gave the balloon a fancy toss and it wobbled a few times before coming down just out of Isaac's grasp. The balloon broke on the ground, followed by more shrieks from the Aphrodite cabin.

"Hephaestus cabin is out!"

"Nice throw," Isaac said.

"Thanks," Micaela grinned. "I _am_ an expert."

"Next is the Apollo cabin!" Mr. D boomed.

"Go get her!" Katie whispered to Crystal as she stepped up to the line.

"No hard feelings, but I'm not going to go easy on you just because you're my friend," Micaela stated. "No offence, but I want to win."

"I want to win too, so don't expect me to drop the balloon just so _you_ can win," Crystal replied with an indignant sniff. Then she grinned.

Micaela started the toss. Each time Crystal threw the balloon back she tried it a different way, but Micaela seemed to anticipate her every throw. Then it was Micaela's turn and she threw it expertly. Crystal barely caught it, but it broke in her hands.

"Apollo cabin is out!"

"I knew that you'd catch it that way," Micaela grinned, "so I knew that if I threw it in a particular way it would break when you caught it. No hard feelings."

Crystal gave a half grin. "Well now you _have _to win, because you got me out."

"I'll do my best." Micaela gave Crystal a firm handshake before stepping back to the line. Her next opponent was a brown-skinned camper from the Zeus cabin.

Micaela caught all of his throws easily, and for five tosses he was barely able to catch all her throws.

The Zeus cabin began chanting, "Dilhan! Dilhan!"

"What a pity your fellow cabin members are going to see you lose," Micaela taunted. Usually she wasn't that mean, but this was different. She was competitive. She caught the camper's next throw effortlessly and even gave a yawn. "_Really_, this is _too _easy. Is that your best shot?" She threw the balloon back and he caught it by the neck, nearly dropping it.

"Not by a long shot," Dilhan murmured. A slight crackling came from his fingers. He threw it back and Micaela caught it, but she could feel energy within it readying it to break. She quickly threw it back. It exploded in mid-air with a crackle of energy directly above Dilhan, soaking him completely.

"What? That was so unfair!" Dilhan cried. "That was supposed to hit _you_!"

Micaela scoffed indignantly. "You _totally_ just cheated! You electrocuted that balloon!"

"I did not!" he protested.

"You_ so_ did! I saw you do it!"

"I would like to point out that the Poseidon cabin has been cheating this entire time," Alec said unemotionally from where he stood watching.

The campers of the Poseidon cabin were conveniently all retying their shoelaces and whistling.

"You have no proof!" one camper protested.

"_Hello_! _Water_ balloons? Of course they've been cheating! How else could they win every single year we've had this event?" Alec pointed out.

"That has nothing to do with it!" A Poseidon camper protested. Suddenly another group fight was starting.

Dionysus gave an annoyed sigh that seemed to say 'why do I waste my time with these stupid kids?' and threw his hands up. "Alright, have a large water balloon fight for all I care, but if I have to come down there you'll all be sorry," he said.

"WATER BALLOON FIGHT!" cried the campers and instantly ran to their cabins, where they had hidden a bunch of extra water balloons in case of this very event.

The Poseidon cabin managed to get their hands on the stock of water balloons first and flung some towards the Apollo cabin.

"Bows!" the lead Apollo camper commanded, and the Apollo cabin un-slung their bows and pointed them towards the sky. "Aim, loose!" The Apollo campers shot off their arrows with expert aim and pierced all the balloons before they even got close to them. The water splashed down on the Aphrodite campers, who all screamed and cried about their ruined designer shirts and then scuffled away.

The Apollo campers where just in the process of congratulating each other when suddenly the Poseidon cabin caused the water on the ground to turn into a wave and soaked them all.

Alec stepped back and summoned some skeletons. "Soak the Hephaestus cabin," he commanded. The skeletons each armed themselves with a water balloon and flung them towards the campers.

Suddenly shields started spiraling out of the Hephaestus campers' watches, wristbands and bracelets. The campers raised their shields and formed a perfect tortoise formation, causing the balloons to break on their shields without getting a single person wet.

"Whoa," Crystal whistled, totally transfixed by the Hephaestus cabin's impressive display. She was so oblivious to everything else that she didn't notice Katie sneaking up behind her until she broke a water balloon over her head.

"Bombs away!" Katie laughed. "Sorry, I couldn't help it! You were just staring and it was the perfect opportunity." She flinched as the Apollo campers turned towards her. "Don't soak me! The Hermes and Apollo cabins should work together! We could get you all the balloons you guys need and attach them to your arrows."

"Fine, but be quick about it!" Crystal said. Katie smiled and sprinted towards her cabin.

The Demeter cabin shielded themselves with vines as the Hecate campers used their magical abilities to constantly pelt them with balloons.

The Athena campers each threw a balloon with precise aim, however the Ares cabin didn't even flinch as the balloons broke against them. The campers then returned fire, along with the Nemesis cabin, forcing the Athena campers to scatter.

Katie and her siblings sprinted back towards the Apollo campers. "These are all the balloons left," she reported. "We checked every cabin's supply and only found eleven. Here, we attached them to your arrows."

"Thanks," Crystal smiled. "Apollo cabin, prepare to hit the Zeus cabin with a barrage! Loose!" A little too top-heavy, the water balloon arrows wobbled in the air, but still managed to make to the Zeus campers. The Zeus cabin didn't dare use electricity for fear of frying themselves. They scattered in all directions.

Soon the word spread that all the water balloons had been used up. The campers started laughing and talking together.

"And that concludes our annual water balloon event!" announced Dionysus, from his box seat. "Now all of you back to your cabins. In case you had forgotten, you're still being punished."

The campers grumbled to themselves as they dispersed, but no one dared to argue with Mr. D. He was a god, after all.


	4. A visit from Apollo

**A Visit From Apollo**

"_Really_, Megan, stop day-dreaming and pay attention." Alec's voice sounded icy and annoyed.

"What?" Megan snapped out of her thoughts. "Sorry, I was just—"

"Checking out that Ares camper. Yes, I know," Alec retorted dryly.

"Oh, lighten up," Megan replied. "It's not like we're all going to die or anything."

"_Lighten up_? My dear sister, we very well _could_ die at any moment. At any moment the magical barrier protecting Camp Half-Blood could fall and a swarm of monsters could charge in and kill us all while we're cleaning out the stables. I wonder, do you think you will see your own blood pouring out of your body before you die?"

"Maybe . . ." Megan began. "No, stop it! Ugh, your pessimism's getting really irritating!"

"I'm being realistic," Alec replied.

"No, you're being . . ." Megan's voice trailed off as she tried to find a real killer comeback that would prove to Alec that she was right, but she couldn't think of one and got flustered. "Well, never mind! Look, I'm paying attention, so can we just continue cleaning, or what?"

"I didn't ask for this job," Alec pointed out. "It's all the lesser cabins' fault, and now we're stuck _cleaning _with the Demeter and Ares cabins. If they would just admit that we're better than them . . ."

"Seriously, Alec, I think you're taking this a bit out of hand," Megan cut in. "The other cabins have their good points too."

"Yeah, they're good distractions. We can use them to feed the Zombies so we can escape."

Megan rolled her brown eyes. "Are you seriously going to start on the whole Zombie thing again? There's no such thing as Zombies."

"Well, _sorry_ for being prepared," Alec's voice was like steel. "When the Zombies do happen to attack, _I _have a plan to deal with them."

Megan was about to make a comment when a Demeter camper walked up to them and dropped a bucket of water by their feet.

"Good, you're not doing any work," she said coldly. "So _you_ can wash the stalls."

"What's the point of washing the stalls?" Megan complained. "They're just going to get dirty again. Besides, the floor's made of dirt, so we can't even wash it."

"Better get started." The Demeter camper totally ignored her words and threw a sponge in both the Hades campers' faces. "You better get it done Mr. D comes, too," she added.

"Well if you're going to get all high and mighty about it, _you_ can do it!" Megan snapped.

"Get it done before Dionysus comes or you're in big trouble." As the Demeter camper turned to leave she kicked the bucket of water over onto Megan. "Oh, and you might want to get some more water." She snickered and walked away to another part of the stable.

"Jerk," Megan muttered under her breath. "Why'd Chiron make us work with _that_ cabin? Why couldn't we work with the Poseidon or Zeus cabin?"

"Because Chiron wants the cabins to learn how to work as a team, or something like that. That's why each of the three cleaning groups has one of the Big Three cabins and a few of the lesser cabins, so we can exercise our . . . teamwork," Alec scoffed. "As if _that_ will ever happen. I am _above_ the other cabins."

Megan bit her lip and with a sigh said, "Come on, let's go get some more water from the creek." As the Hades campers walked towards the creek, the sun beat down on them.

"The sun is too bright," Alec complained. "It's hurting my eyes."

"Well, maybe if you didn't spend all your time locked in our room it wouldn't hurt your eyes," Megan replied. "Although it _is_ getting rather bright. Why does it feel like the sun is coming towards us?"

"Because maybe, just maybe, the sun _is_ coming towards us," Alec said. "Look!" He pointed to an object in the sky that was rocketing towards the camp with incredible speed.

"That looks like . . ." Megan squinted to get a better look, then her eyes went wide. "Styx! Duck!" She and Alec hit the dirt just in time as the object whizzed over their heads, barely missing them, and landed on the ground. The Hades campers stared in amazement at the car in front of them.

Alec gave a low whistle. "Alright, I have to admit, that is a sweet car."

Suddenly the door on the car swung open and out stepped a handsome and athletic looking man with blonde hair like the sun. His eyes surveyed the camp and landed on the Hades campers.

"You." He took a step towards them. "Tell me, where is Chiron?"

"That way," Megan stammered, then added, "Lord Apollo." For there was no mistaking it, this was the sun god.

"Thanks." He turned and sprinted down the field.

"Wow . . . the stories are right, Apollo _is_ hot."

"Seriously Megan," Alec rolled his dull greenish-blue eyes. "There's more to guys than their looks."

"There is?" Megan joked.

Alec gave an annoyed sigh. "Although, there's something that bothers me. Apollo seemed . . . rattled. Nervous even. And did you notice how he seemed like he was in a hurry?"

"Well, yeah, what of it?"

"Think about it. If a god is upset, something is seriously wrong. Probably some terrible monster is loose that will kill us all."

"I highly doubt that," Megan said, then she got an idea. "Hey, want to go spy on them?"

Alec grinned. "Most definitely."

"Then let's go!" Megan exclaimed as she threw the empty bucket she was carrying over her shoulder.

* * *

The entire Apollo cabin was squished outside of Chiron's door, each trying to get a glimpse of their father through the keyhole. No matter how hard she tried, Crystal couldn't get to it, so she just hung at the back of the group.

"Styx, girl, it must be pretty exciting to have your father visit camp, huh?" Micaela asked as she walked towards the swarm of Apollo campers and sat down on a crate beside Crystal.

"Oh you'd think it would be," Crystal retorted, "but he's not here for us, he's here for some other reason. All of us just want to hear him say something to us, tell us we're not worthless or that he loves us, but he's too busy for that." She sighed. "It's really hard being this close to him, with only a door in the way, but not actually getting to see him, or hang out with him like any normal person would with their dad."

"Be glad you've seen him at all, even if it is from a distance," Micaela said. "Most campers never see their godly father or mother. I've never met Athena."

"Sorry," Crystal apologized. "I'm being selfish. It's just that . . . I'm a little rattled right now."

"Is it the prophecy?"

"Yeah," Crystal ran her fingers through her light brown hair. "I mean, Apollo's here right? 'The Sun God's pleas will not go unheard'. Remember that part?"

"I have a really, really good memory. How could I forget?" Micaela fiddled with the owl necklace that she always wore.

"Well he's here, and he obviously needs help with something! That means the prophecy is coming true. And if it's true . . ."

"Something is going to be sacrificed," Micaela finished her friend's sentence. "You're afraid that you're going to have to sacrifice something important to you, aren't you?"

Crystal gave her the evil eye, but then her face softened and she looked like she might break into tears at any moment. "Yes. Yes, I am. I'm afraid of the prophecy because I know that if I'm faced with the choice, I'll make the wrong one. I'm not brave enough to sacrifice something or someone I care about. I . . . I want to be a hero, but I don't have what it takes to be one."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry," Micaela said.

"It's alright." Crystal rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't crying. She mustered a weak smile. "I mean, we all have our weaknesses and fears, right?"

"Indubitably," the daughter of Athena agreed. "Hey, don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll rise to the occasion when you need to."

"'When'? You said when, not if," Crystal stated nervously.

"That's because if the prophecy is indeed coming true, your time will be coming faster than you think."

"And what about you?" Crystal asked. "The prophecy talked about a daughter of Athena. I wouldn't be surprised if it was referring to you."

"Me? N-no," Micaela stuttered. "It can't be talking about me . . ." She put on a fake smile. "I mean really, me?"

"Are . . . are you afraid of something?" Crystal inquired.

"Afraid?" Micaela gave a nervous laugh. "No . . ." Then seeing that her friend didn't believe her she added, "Maybe just a little. I haven't left camp more than twice since I first came here because I've had some bad experiences outside the protective boundaries. I've been playing with fire a little bit. I mean, I use the internet all the time, which is a very dangerous thing, because I'm practically calling monsters up and saying, 'hi, I'm right here!'. Plus, my fatal flaw is forgetfulness. I like to tell everyone that I'm always prepared, that anything they need, I probably have it. But I always seem to forget the one thing I absolutely need the most, and it usually has pretty bad consequences. And if I don't forget it, I usually lose it along the way. I want to go on a quest, but I'm afraid I'll be unprepared and lead everyone to their doom."

"Oh, okay," Crystal didn't pry any further, though she was extremely curious. "So? Have you figured out who the prophecy is referring to yet?"

"No." Micaela rubbed her forehead. "I've been to Rach—uh I mean, the Oracle, but she never remembers what she told people when she's in her prophecy-telling state. So she wasn't exactly much help."

"Hmm . . . too bad," Crystal leaned back and closed her eyes. Her mind drifted away from Micaela and focused on the prophecy. Slowly she could feel herself falling asleep.

* * *

"Crystal? Crystal! Get up!"

Crystal snapped out of her thoughts and bolted upright. She looked around to see a ring of people around her, including Chiron and Apollo.

"What? What's wrong?" she asked.

Micaela felt her friend's forehead, then grabbed her wrist. "Your pulse is slow and your body temperature is still cold. How do you feel?"

"Tired, drained, light-headed," Crystal replied. "What's going on?"

"I . . . I don't know," Micaela replied, looking away.

"What's going _on_?" Crystal grabbed her friend's shoulders and gave them a slight shake.

"You've been out for almost a half-hour now," Chiron informed her as he stepped forward.

"What? But I . . . I was just . . . I only had my eyes closed for a few seconds . . . What happened?"

"It's never happened with a camper before," Chiron said to Apollo.

"Then how could it happen now?" Apollo asked.

"I'm not sure. You are the god of prophecy as well as other things, but as I've said before, I've never seen it happen to a demigod before."

"Would someone tell me what the Hades is going _on_?" Crystal almost screamed.

"You were just sitting there," Micaela explained, "and then you seemed to black out. Next thing I know you start saying all these names. I don't understand why. Then you went into convulsions and your body went numb. I thought you were . . . well, dead. I tried to wake you up but you were out cold. My screaming drew this crowd. It even caused Chiron and your dad to quit their conversation to see what was going on. Then you woke up and . . . well, you know the rest."

"Chiron . . . what . . . what happened to me?" Crystal asked the Centaur.

"My dear. . ." Chiron began slowly, "you have had a vision."

Crystal blinked about five times before she finally said something. "But . . . how can that be? I'm not the Oracle . . . This doesn't make sense."

"What did you see?" Apollo pushed his way through the crowd anxiously until he was right in front of his daughter.

"I. . . I don't know. . . I. . ." Crystal stammered.

"What did you see?" Apollo repeated, this time more firmly, he seemed, well, frantic.

"I . . ." Crystal closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, trying to bring back her dream. "There . . . there was this . . . tree . . ."

"Go on," Apollo prodded.

"I think it was a laurel tree."

"Yes, what else?"

"Um . . . I . . . I don't remember."

"What _else_?" Apollo was practically shaking his daughter. It was obvious that something was really worrying him.

"I . . . I don't know!" Crystal cried, on the verge of tears.

"Alright, calm down, both of you," Chiron stepped forward and pushed the two figures apart. He took one of Crystal's hands in his and looked into her eyes. "Take a deep breath. Now tell me, what do you remember?"

Crystal took a few breaths and then closed her eyes again. "There was someone in front of the tree. I couldn't tell who it was, but the person stabbed the tree with something . . . and the tree just . . . died."

It seemed like all the breath in the room just drained away. Everyone stood there blinking. Apollo took a step back.

"This settles it," he said to Chiron. "My fears have been confirmed."

Chiron gave a grim nod, "I will organize a group to take care of it. Don't worry."

"Thank you," Apollo said, and then without another word he walked away.

Crystal followed outside and watched as her father flew away in his sun car. She gave a sigh.

"Hey, you okay?" Katie asked, as she came walking towards her friend. "I heard about the whole thing."

"I don't know what's going on with me . . ." Crystal began. "I mean, I've had dreams before that sometimes come true but I never thought . . . I mean, a vision? Only the Oracle can have those."

Katie shrugged. "One; you're a daughter of Apollo, and he's the god of prophecies, so it's not that weird. Two; your visions are different from the Oracle's. You have to be asleep, they drain you of all your energy and you just get random pictures, not a poem or anything. Plus, you don't even know whether you're having a vision or not. Oh, and you can remember them after you've had them, too . . . But that's not really what's bothering you, is it? It's your dad."

"Yes!" Crystal cried, exasperated. "He was obviously worried about something. I mean, he drove the sun here just so he could talk to Chiron, for crying out loud!"

"That's not what I meant." Katie folded her arms.

"Alright, I admit, I'm a bit disappointed and upset," Crystal confessed. "He didn't even say 'hi' to any of his kids or anything! He just left, without a good-bye, nothing! What kind of father would come all the way over here and not even talk to his kids, even for a little bit?"

"We'll never fully understand gods," Katie said. "It's just the way things are."

"I guess so," Crystal sighed.

"You should probably get some rest," Katie suggested, "you look a little woozy."

"'Kay," Crystal gave a weak smile and then left for her cabin.


	5. Preparations

**Preparations**

"And then there's Megan and Alec," Micaela muttered to herself as she lay on her bed scribbling furiously on a pad of paper. She had written down each name Crystal had said in her trance (using her photographic memory, which she was very proud of) and was trying to figure out who they were and what part they played in the scheme of things. "I wonder . . ." Her voice trailed off as she got an idea. She rolled off her bed and pulled out a giant book from one of the bookshelves in the Athena room.

"What are you up to?" one of her half-sisters inquired.

"Research," Micaela replied. She sat back down on her bed, read her list over again and then flipped through the book. "Let's see. Class of 1999, class of 2008," she murmured to herself until she found the year she wanted. "Ah, here we go, the present members of Camp Half-Blood. Alright, let's see who this Dilhan fellow is." She scanned the pages until she came to the right name. "Alright, easy enough. There's only one Dilhan and he's from the Zeus cabin." Micaela wrote down some information next to the name 'Dilhan' on her list. "I really wish Crystal had said the last names of these people in her vision. It would have made things a lot easier. Let's see. Alec is the next name."

Micaela hummed a tune to herself as she flipped through the pages. "There are a few Alexanders, but only one refers to himself as Alec. He's from the Hades cabin." Micaela wrinkled her nose. "Oh, he must be that annoying one that was making all those comments about the—quote, un-quote—'lesser cabins'."

"Micaela, would you lower your tone? It is hard for the rest of us to concentrate on what _we_ are doing," one of her half-brothers complained.

"Sorry," Micaela apologized. "It's just easier for me to think when I say things out loud." She lowered her voice to little more than a whisper. "Next, Megan. Hmmm, alright, there are nine Megan's. Great." She scribbled down the names of each Megan and which cabin she was from.

"Alright, there are five Isaacs, Seven Sarahs, twelve Katies, four Crystals." She stared down at the last name on her list: Michaela. "What if . . . what if it's _Micaela_? That would mean it's me . . . Hmm . . . Well it's a possibility." She wrote down the information next to the name on her list. She read the list again and shuffled a few names around. "If Megan was the Megan from Hades cabin and it really was Crystal, then . . ." Suddenly it struck Micaela. "Oh . . . this means . . . Crystal and Katie's prophecy? Oh my gods, it can't be!" She looked over the list again. "No, it has to be. I've got to tell Chiron!"

She jumped off her bed, flung open the door and ran towards the Big House, ignoring the sounds of her half-siblings yelling at her to come back. Finally she made it to Chiron's door, gasping for breath. She knocked lightly and stepped back, waiting for him to answer. The centaur opened his door with a look of shock on his face.

"Micaela? What are you doing here? It's only five minutes until curfew."

"I know, but I've got something I need to show you," Micaela stated.

"Well, alright. I was busy figuring out who would go help Apollo but—"

"Actually," Micaela cut in, "I think I've got the list of people who need to go right here.

* * *

Crystal did not have a good feeling about going to see Chiron. When she had been informed that he wanted her to report to his room, she knew she must be in trouble.

"What have I done this time?" she wondered aloud. "Maybe this is about me and Katie switching all the Aphrodite campers' toothpaste with glue, but I was certain no one saw us do that."

Crystal knocked on Chiron's door, and when he called her to come in she opened it and walked inside, making sure to close the door behind her.

"Oh, Micaela! What are you doing here?" she asked the Athena camper when she saw her inside. "Did you get in trouble too?"

"No," Micaela replied coolly. "I simply had some important information for Chiron."

"Ah, I see," Crystal looked over at the centaur. "So, uh, what about me? Am I in trouble?"

"Not yet," Chiron responded, "but I have a feeling you soon will be. Tell me, when did you and Katie have time to go to the Oracle and receive your prophecy?"

Crystal's mind went blank and her mouth dropped open. "You told Chiron about the prophecy?" she hissed at Micaela.

"I _had_ to," Micaela hissed back.

"Um, well, uh . . . you see . . ." Crystal stumbled for words as she tried to answer Chiron.

"Actually," Micaela cut in, "it was my fault. I convinced Katie and Crystal to visit the Oracle."

Crystal's mouth dropped open a second time. She couldn't believe that Micaela was taking the blame for something she wasn't even a part of.

"No," Crystal interjected, "Micaela had nothing to do with this, and neither did Katie. It was all my idea."

Micaela gave her a strange look and mouthed the words 'I'm trying to help you' to the daughter of Apollo. Crystal nodded and mouthed, 'I know' back. She gave a sigh, seeing no point in lying to Chiron, and told him the whole story. "You see, I didn't mean to disobey Mr. D, I was just . . . scared."

"I admire both of you for standing up for each and not blame-shifting," Chiron said. "Although, that doesn't mean you're going to get out of trouble."

"Just don't punish Micaela. She honestly had nothing to do with this. I met her officially _after_ I got the prophecy."

"That may be." Chiron tapped his chin. "You _did_ disobey a direct command. However, because of this, we have learned some very valuable things, like who should go on this quest."

"Actually, I don't know for certain. I just know that it's a daughter of Apollo, Hermes, Athena . . ."

"Actually," Micaela cut in, "I figured it out. The names you said when you were semi-conscious—those are the names of the people in the prophecy."

"You . . . I . . . Micaela, you're brilliant!" Crystal hugged her friend, rather awkwardly.

"It was easy, really," Micaela smiled. "Hardly a worthy test for a daughter of Athena."

"A-hem," Chiron cleared his throat. "Now about your punishment . . ."

"I'll do an extra load of dishes with the furies," Crystal said quickly, "just, _please_ let me see the list!"

"Right here," Micaela handed the piece of paper to her friend. "We don't exactly know who's going or not—that's Chiron's decision—but we've got a pretty good idea, take a look."

"My name's on here," Crystal grinned, then she paused. "Wait a minute, your name's on here too."

"Yeah, apparently." Micaela's words came out just a tiny bit too quickly, giving Crystal the idea that she was nervous.

"Girls, please," Chiron cut in. "I will take care of it. Now both of you back to your rooms. And Crystal? I expect to see you in the kitchen after breakfast for that extra load of dishes."

"Yes, Chiron," Crystal said, and turned to leave the room with a little bounce in her step.

* * *

Crystal gave the last dish a spray of lava, washed it and then put it in the tray to be dried.

"There, finished!" She pulled the rubber gloves she was wearing off of her hands and placed them on the counter. She looked at the clock on the wall. "Well, look at that, I still have some time before lunch!" She turned, left the kitchen and ran across the field to where the rest of Apollo cabin was practicing their archery with the Hermes cabin.

"It's about time you showed up," Katie said. "I thought you'd never come out of that kitchen again, at least not alive." She pulled back her bowstring and shot an arrow into the target.

"Your aim's off, Katie," Crystal observed. "Here, try to do it more like this." She took the bow from her friend's hand, fitted an arrow into it, drew the string back to her ear, and in one swift motion fired the arrow straight into the middle of the target.

"Not everyone's an Apollo camper," Katie growled, a bit agitated, and snatched the bow back from Crystal. "Show off," she muttered under her breath.

Crystal grinned as she found herself an unoccupied bow from the weapons rack. She jogged back beside her friend and waited for her turn to shoot the target.

"Hey Katie, did you hear the news?"

"What news?" Katie asked as she shot an arrow towards the target.

"The news that . . . one second." Crystal pulled back her bowstring and then once again fired her arrow into the centre of the target.

"Bah, stupid kids of Apollo," Katie grumbled. "I could beat them in a stealing contest."

"Anyways," Crystal continued, not taking notice to Katie's complaints, "Micaela figured some things out."

"About what?"

"About the prophecy! What else?"

"So?" Katie asked, as if it didn't really matter.

"So? _So_? Our whole existence could be at stake and all you have to say is _so_?"

"Oh, stop being such a drama queen. You sound like a daughter of Aphrodite," Katie grouched, firing an arrow off.

"I happen to like drama," Crystal replied coolly, "so by calling me a drama queen you are actually giving me a compliment."

Katie rolled her eyes. "So, are you going to tell me about the prophecy or what?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, right. Micaela figured out who's going with us, or something resembling who's going with us anyways."

"And? Is there anyone you recognized?"

"No, not really. Well, besides us, and her . . . Hey look, there's Chiron now!" Crystal pointed as the centaur approached.

A ripple of whispering rose up from the members of the Apollo and Hermes cabin. They stopped what they were doing and watched.

"Crystal, Katheryn, come with me, please," Chiron said.

Crystal nudged her friend and whispered, "He called you by your full name. That's never a good sign."

"Come ladies, we don't have all day," Chiron beckoned the girls to follow him. Slowly Katie and Crystal slunk after him.

He led them into his quarters and motioned for them to sit down. The girls didn't do anything at first as they scanned the room full of six other campers, but when Micaela waved them over and offered them two seats beside her, they quickly accepted.

Crystal glanced at her companions; Alec and Megan from the Hades cabin sat in one corner, a blonde demigod who Crystal instantly recognized as Sarah, the demigod she'd saved just a few days earlier, sat by herself awkwardly. A tall muscular camper who Crystal was pretty sure was that Isaac-guy from the Hephaestus cabin sat next to that Dilhan fellow from the Zeus cabin. Everyone seemed confused and on-edge.

"So, why exactly are we here?" asked Alec in a very agitated and thoroughly bored voice.

"That is exactly what I am about to tell you young master Alexander," Chiron responded edgily. When the teenager remained silent Chiron continued. "Most of you probably know about Apollo's visit to Camp Half-Blood—"

"Oh yeah, what was that all about?" asked Megan.

"_Really_, is interrupting people a habit the Hades cabin has? May I continue, Megan?"

Megan's cheeks flushed red a little. "Yes, go ahead."

"Thank you. Now, as I was saying, Apollo visited camp to ask me for help with something." Sarah raised her hand. "Yes, Sarah? Did you have a question?"

"Um, yes," Sarah responded. "If Apollo really is real, and he really is the sun god, then why can't he do it himself?"

The room fell silent. Micaela flashed Katie a glance which seemed to say, _'who the Hades is this girl?'_

"What do you mean '_if_'?" Crystal shot up off her chair. "My father _is_ real and he most certainly _is_ the god of the sun!"

"Crystal, sit down, _now_." Chiron's voice was dead serious, and almost dared Crystal to protest. She quickly fell back to her seat. Then Chiron turned back to Sarah. "Apollo can't do anything because he is a god, and has duties that he must attend to (namely making the sun rise and set), so he can't go on this quest himself. He needs heroes to do it, and that's what you all are."

"So, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly_ is_ this quest?" Katie's fingers were twitching as if she couldn't wait to hear what Chiron had to say.

"Well, we fear that the Laurel Tree has been poisoned."

"So? It's just a tree, right?" Sarah asked.

"This is not any ordinary tree," Crystal responded between clenched teeth. "This is _Daphne's_ tree."

"Oh, hurrah, that makes it _so_ much more important," Alec said, each word laced in sarcasm.

"Actually, it does," Crystal shot back. "This tree is sacred to Apollo, my dad. It's all that's left of one of his lovers, and if something happened to it, he'd be really upset. And when he's upset he tends to shirk his duties. If he's upset then you might as well say good-bye to the sun, like, forever, or at least until he regains his composure. But with something as important to him as Daphne's tree, it would take him a long time."

"Camp Half-Blood has experience with poisoned trees though, right?" Katie asked. "Like the time Thalia's tree was poisoned and Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase brought back the Golden Fleece. So you have a plan on how to fix this tree, correct?"

"Well can't you just take the Golden Fleece to Daphne's tree, then?" Sarah asked.

"No!" Crystal, Katie and Micaela exclaimed in unison.

"Without the Golden Fleece, Thalia's tree will die. The Golden Fleece is keeping the magical borders around Camp Half-Blood up," Micaela explained impatiently.

"So do you have an antidote or something for Daphne's tree?" Crystal asked Chiron.

"Yes," Chiron replied, "at least, we believe so. There is the possibility that it won't work."

"So basically we're going to this tree and injecting this antidote into, right?" inquired Dilhan.

"What a glorious quest this will be," muttered Alec under his breath. Megan elbowed him in the arm.

"But why us?" asked Isaac.

"I'm glad you asked, Isaac," Chiron said. "The reason is because two of our campers, Crystal and Katie," he motioned to the two girls, "received a vision from the Oracle."

"I know it perfectly," Micaela added, grinning because her photographic memory was coming in handy again, as it did nearly every day. "It is:

'_Eight children must go where no one desires_

_Daughter of wisdom and son of fires,_

_Child of sky, daughter of health,_

_Offspring of death, girl of stolen wealth,_

_An unknown camper will make a pivotal choice,_

_She will discover her parent and find her voice,_

_The Sun God's pleas will not go unheard,_

_The children will leave, though it seems absurd,_

_A once defeated foe shall rise again,_

_The path will be hard and full of pain_

_Good fortune will come if you pass the test,_

_Camp Half-blood will ring with your success,_

_But are you prepared to pay the cost?_

_Choose wisely or all will be lost.' _"

Megan raised an eyebrow. "And because of this riddle you figured out that it's us who need to go?"

"Actually Micaela figured that out later, when Crystal had a vision and said all of your names in her trance."

"Whoa, take a step back, _who_ had a vision? Crystal's not the Oracle." Megan observed.

"No, but she is a daughter of Apollo." Chiron responded. "Now, Micaela brought me the list of all the names and I chose from that list who would go."

"And you chose us? I'm flattered," said Alec, but he didn't sound flattered at all.

"But Chiron, I just came to camp. Literally, I _just_ came," Sarah pointed out. "I shouldn't be going. I don't even know who my father is!"

"Sarah has a point. She has absolutely no experience, and from the sound of things, she possesses next to no knowledge of Greek Mythology," Micaela stated.

"I made the decision. Do you question it?" Chiron asked.

"N-No, Sir," Micaela stammered. "I was simply clarifying why it would be unwise for her to come, but you made the choice, so I don't question it."

"Alright, good. Now everyone pack your bags. You leave tomorrow morning."


	6. Setting Off

**Setting Off**

"Oh, come on Crystal, seriously! You don't need to bring your drum set!" Katie rolled her eyes.

"But how else will I get to practice?" Crystal whined, "I'm just starting to learn how to drum 'What I've Done'. It's one of the first actual songs I'm doing! How will I get better if I don't practice? Um, could you help me carry the bass drum?"

Katie planted her hands on her hips. "Leave. That. Here."

"Fine," Crystal grumbled and set the bass drum back down on the floor of her room. She grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Come on, let's get going."

As the two girls walked down the hall another camper ran up to them.

"Hey, you're Katie and Crystal right?" she asked. "I'm Megan, daughter of Hades. Just thought I'd introduce myself since we're going to be traveling together."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Megan, I'm Crystal, oh wait, you already knew that, sorry I'm not good at introductions."

"No prob," Megan gave a slight smile. "Let's just skip to the part where we tell each other our interests."

"I enjoy stealing from people, sneaking around, and playing pranks on stuck up jerks," Katie said, her lip twitching as she tried to keep from grinning. "You?"

"Boys, Fall Out Boy—" Megan began

"You mean that band that broke up?" Katie asked, smirking a little.

"Bah, shut up, don't remind me," Megan grumbled. "Anyways as I was saying, Harry Potter, boys, Nightwish, boys . . . Did I mention boys?"

"Well it's not hard to figure out what your main focus is!" Crystal observed, laughing a little. "Me, I like running, acting, singing, drumming, and as Katie said, playing pranks on people."

"Interesting hobbies. You're a daughter of Apollo, aren't you?"

"How'd you know?"

"Lucky guess." Megan smiled.

"Oh, and she forgot to mention that she's obsessed with everything that is related to the Lord of the Rings," Katie added.

Megan grinned. "I think this is the start of a great friendship."

* * *

The three campers met the rest of their companions by Thalia's tree and waited for Chiron.

"We're definitely going to need a car." Micaela had a list of things she was checking off. "That would triple our speed. Does anyone have a driver's license?"

"Who needs a driver's license when you can summon a skeletal horse?" Alec asked, his voice deadpan.

"Who's that?" Crystal whispered to Megan.

"My half-brother, Alec," Megan whispered back. "He's always pessimistic and annoyed."

"Well, not everyone can ride a skeletal horse," Micaela pointed out to Alec.

"Only the best of us, I'm afraid," Alec answered coldly. Micaela ignored him.

"I've got a license," Katie said, "but just to warn you, my driving is not the best."

"That's it, I'm walking," said Dilhan.

"Chill, Dilhan," Isaac, the Hephaestus camper, said. "I'm sure she's not that bad a driver."

"Yes, but I'd rather not take any chances, Isaac," Dilhan replied.

"Guys, please," Micaela interrupted, she checked off another thing on her list. "Alright, that takes care of our transportation."

"Not exactly," Sarah pointed out. "We might have someone who can drive the car, but we don't have any car _to_ drive."

Micaela grimaced. She obviously didn't want to admit that she hadn't planned that far ahead.

"No problem," Katie said, "I can hot-wire any vehicle."

"We are _not_ stealing a car," Micaela stated firmly.

"Only from someone who deserves it," Megan said. "Like a used cars salesman. They always have enough cars to spare. Besides, if we bought one he'd probably be ripping us off."

"We are _not_ stealing," Micaela said again. "We'll ask Chiron for some money to rent a car."

"What a waste of money," Katie grumbled.

"Look, here comes Chiron now."

Chiron trotted towards the eight campers and handed each of them a duffle bag. "These are filled with every thing you might need. Food, sleeping bags, cash, drachmas, everything."

"Thanks," everyone said in unison.

"And this is for you. You'll need it." He handed Sarah a whip. "Its name is Tuphon."

"Typhoon," Micaela translated. "Interesting name."

"Why a whip?" Sarah asked.

"The whip is the weapon of a peacemaker. It doesn't kill people, it only injures them. I have a feeling that you'll be the peacemaker of this group." Chiron winked. "And this is just in case." He handed Micaela a zip-lock back containing a large sum of money. "Now good luck to all of you and may the favor of the gods shine upon you."

The eight campers all said their good-byes and then turned and walked down the hill.

* * *

Megan ducked under the fence and looked around. She couldn't remember when the last time she had been outside Camp Half-Blood's magical borders was. Living at the camp meant being blocked from the outside world. She had always wanted to be one of the campers who only came during the summer, but she had nowhere else to live. It felt good to finally be out. Freeing almost. She looked back over her shoulder and caught a glimpse of the Hephaestus camper, Isaac, helping Crystal over the fence. Megan grinned. _This is going to be interesting. _She walked over to the daughter of Apollo.

"Hey, that guy that helped you over the fence, he's that Isaac person, right?" She asked, nodding her head towards him. "What a gentleman."

"Yeah, what about him?" Crystal tugged on her brown hair, flushing ever so slightly.

"Oh, nothing," Megan gave a sly smile. "He's kinda cute, huh?"

"Well if you think that, maybe you should go talk to him," Crystal said.

"Talk to him? Oh," Megan gave a laugh. "I didn't mean he was cute for me, I meant cute for you. Seriously, you would make such a great couple!" She made a strange squealing noise.

"Megan!" Crystal's face went bright red. "I don't even like him! I mean, not as a boyfriend, he seems fine as a friend-friend! I mean, I don't hate him, but I don't like him! I barely even know him!"

Megan smirked impishly. "Oooooh, you're blushing _and_ tripping over your own words! That's the first sign!"

"Sign of what?" Crystal's voice was getting a bit high-pitched.

"That you like him, of course!"

"No I don't! Like I said, I barely even know him!"

"Hey, relax, I'm just teasing you! But I do know when someone has a crush on someone else." With a grin Megan turned and began bouncing away.

"Wait, Megan, I don't have a crush on him!" Crystal shrieked.

Megan chuckled to herself. _That girl is way too easy to annoy._

"So, what's the plan, boss?" Megan asked Micaela as she walked beside her.

"_Please_, don't call me boss. I'm not in charge of this quest."

"Perhaps not, but you _have_ seemed to take matters into your own hands . . . _And_, Chiron seems to think you're the leader. He gave_ you_ the extra cash!" Megan said.

"Well, I'm not the leader," Micaela countered.

"You are, too," Megan responded as she snatched the notepad Micaela was writing on out of her hands and looked it over. "Just as I suspected! Look you don't need to have a to-do list. We're perfectly capable of doing things without one."

"I know that," Micaela answered as she grabbed the note-pad back, "I just don't want to forget anything. It doesn't hurt to be prepared. Aesop once said . . ."

"Ugh," Megan covered her ears. "Thanks for reminding me why I don't like talking to Athena campers. I don't need a history lesson." She hurried away from Micaela and walked next to Dilhan, who was scribbling furiously on a pad of paper.

"Hey, how's—"

"Don't talk to me," he cut in. "I'm busy."

"Oh, busy doing what?" Megan pried.

"A counter plan for whatever that smart-aleck daughter of Athena is coming up with," he responded. "Now, please, go away."

"Oooh, so you're trying to take charge of this group, aren't you?"

"Well, yes!" Dilhan replied, getting flustered. "I'm a son of Zeus! I'm a born leader, and this _Athena _camper is taking charge. I won't stand for that! Now leave me alone . . . please!"

"Meh, fine." Megan moved on next to Isaac. "Hey, what's up?"

Isaac grunted.

"Um, okay, so how's life treating you?"

He glared at her and didn't answer.

"Alright then, glad we had this talk. A very . . . stimulating conversation." She turned and walked forward. "Obviously he doesn't like talking. Hmm . . . Hey, Katie!" She jogged up to the daughter of Hermes.

"Shh! Shut up!" Katie hissed. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"No, I can't see that."

Katie turned and rolled her eyes. "Just watch." She was walking closely behind Sarah, who had her bag slung over her shoulder. Katie timed each of her moves carefully, and as the bag swung back she unzipped it. She waited for it to swing back again and then quickly glanced into it and rummaged around. Another swing backwards and she had something in her hands. Then when the bag swung backwards a fourth time she zipped it back up, all this without Sarah noticing.

"Ta-da!" Katie bowed slightly as she handed the object to Megan. It was a large silver ring.

"Whoa, impressive! But aren't you going to give this back?"

"Give it back?" Katie snorted. "She needs to learn to take better care of her stuff, especially when there's a kid of Hermes around."

Megan decided then and there to always keep an eye on her valuables.

"A-hem!" Katie cleared her throat, "I'd like the ring back! Or are you going to make me steal it again?"

"Oh, right. Here." Megan handed the ring back to Katie.

Katie examined it, slid it into her pocket and then turned to face Megan. "So, what's up? You obviously wanted to talk to someone for a reason."

"Not really," Megan shuffled her feet. "I just want to talk."

"Alright, about what?"

"I'd like to warn you that my sister has the habit of talking for hours and not really _saying_ anything," Alec cut in as he came up beside them.

"Shut up, Alec," Megan elbowed her half-brother.

"How long are we going to walk before we actually _get _somewhere?" Crystal complained to Micaela from the back of the group.

"Yeah, there's nothing here! We're in the middle of nowhere and we're just going to _walk_ to civilization?" Dilhan put in.

Micaela turned to face him in a very annoyed fashion. "Well, you tell me, do _you_ have any suggestions on what we should do?"

"Well, anything I suggest is bound to be better than what you're doing," he shot back. "Do you actually expect us to walk all the way? And do you even know where this tree _is_?"

"As a matter of fact . . ." Micaela stopped.

"Aha! You don't! I knew it! You could be leading us in the wrong direction!"

"Wait, you mean Chiron didn't _tell _us where Daphne's tree is?" Crystal had a strange look pasted on her face.

"Well . . . No . . . Not really."

"Wait, did he tell us what it looks like?" Katie put in.

"Uh . . ." Micaela raised a finger and then put it back down. "No . . . Not entirely. But we know it's a laurel tree!"

Everyone gave each other a strange look.

"Does he even know what Daphne's tree is?" Megan asked.

"Well of course he knows that," Micaela replied, flustered.

"Just checking," Megan said.

"Oh, well isn't everything just hunky-dory!" Alec cried in an almost exasperated way. "We're heading to who-knows-where, without a car I might add, to find some tree that we don't even know what it looks like, to help out Apollo. We don't even know why he asked _us_ in the first place, and now we're having control issues between Little Miss Athena and Young Master Zeus. Am I missing anything?"

"Wow," Megan gave a low whistle, "that was more energy than I've seen you display in five months combined! Nice work."

"Maybe he didn't actually know where it was," Sarah suggested, "maybe he figured that one of us would know." Suddenly all eyes turned to Crystal.


	7. The Unknown Camper gets Claimed

**The Unknown Camper Gets Claimed**

Crystal shifted awkwardly. "What?"

"Well, Daughter of Apollo, would you care to enlighten us?" Alec asked, his voice back to being dead-pan.

"Enlighten you? How?" Crystal began to feel uneasy.

"Technically you are the only child of Apollo here," Micaela stated. "Daphne's tree is sacred to _Apollo_, so perhaps you know where it is. Perhaps even subconsciously."

"N-No, I don't . . . I . . . I was never told where it was. I mean, how could I know if I was never told? This is all too confusing for me, and—"

"Crystal, take a chill pill and relax," Katie said. "You are way too stressed out."

"I'm not stressed! I mean, why would I be stressed?" Crystal asked, her voice straining slightly.

"You are stressed. Whenever you're stressed you say 'I mean' a lot, so just calm down and focus. Do you remember anything in your vision, anything useful?"

Crystal squirmed a little as she tried to sit still, which wasn't exactly easy for a demigod considering they all have ADHD. "Um . . . there was . . . No. I have nothing. Sorry."

"Oh, that's useful," Alec said dryly. Megan elbowed him.

"Concentrate!" Katie's voice rose a tiny bit.

"I'm trying!" Crystal protested. "It's just not there anymore! It's all fuzzy! All I remember is the laurel tree and some person doing something to it, and fireworks in the distance—"

"Fireworks? You didn't say anything about fireworks before," Katie interrupted.

"I didn't think it was important," Crystal confessed.

"Fireworks . . ." Micaela tapped her chin. "Wait, what's the date today?

"June 30th, but I don't really see—" Crystal began.

"Independence Day!" Micaela cried. "It's going to happen on Independence Day!"

"Are you sure?" Sarah asked.

"It has to be! I mean fireworks? It seems pretty clear to me. That means we only have, like, four days!"

"That's great, but where is it? We've limited it down to what? The United States? The United States is huge Micaela. It could be anywhere," Megan pointed out.

"True." Micaela looked back to Crystal. "Do you remember anything else? Anything?"

"No," Crystal rubbed her forehead, "but my head's really starting to hurt now."

"Guys, calm down," Sarah said, "maybe we should rest and then—"

"Rest? You don't understand! This is not just Apollo the sun god we're talking about, this is my _father_ we're talking about!" Crystal shot back. "You don't understand because _you _haven't been claimed!"

Everyone paused.

"That's right! You _haven't_ been claimed! But . . . I thought that Percy Jackson made a deal with the gods so that they had to claim every child they had by the time the child turned thirteen!" Micaela said.

"Chiron said he had a really good guess who my father was. He said it was one of the Big Three, but he didn't tell me who." Sarah shifted awkwardly.

"Look, I'm sorry." Crystal's voice softened. "I didn't mean to bring it up . . . I guess I'm just going through a lot of stress right now, you know? My dad's sacred tree is going to get killed in four days, then he'll stop making the sun rise and we'll all get stuck in another ice age and _die_. Nothing big." Crystal gave a laugh.

"She's lost it," Alec said matter-of-factly. "She has lost her mind."

Crystal snapped out of her crazed state. "I have not."

"Look," Isaac stepped forward. "Sarah is right, we need rest. I'm not sure the rest of you realize it, but we've been traveling all day. We can start again in the morning." He said it so firmly, and everyone was so shocked that he had actually _talked_ at all, that no one dared question his suggestion. Well, not so much a _suggestion_ as an _order._

"He's got a point. It's starting to get dark. And, who knows, maybe you'll have another vision," Micaela speculated hopefully.

"Yeah, maybe . . ."

It took the campers no time at all to set up their two tents; naturally there was one for the girls and one for the guys.

"I propose we have watches," Micaela suggested. "I'll take the first watch, and we can take forty-five minute intervals until morning. See you all then." The campers disappeared into their appointed tents to attempt to find sleep as Micaela settled in against a tree to watch for monsters.

* * *

Sarah woke with a start. In the darkness she could hear Crystal mumbling something in her sleep and thrashing around.

_She's probably having another vision, _Sarah decided. She closed her eyes again and tried to go back to sleep, but couldn't. She sighed and climbed out of her sleeping bag. _Maybe some fresh air will do me good. _

She quietly crept around Megan, un-zipped the tent and crawled out into the night. The stars were twinkling and the moon shone brightly, so she could see with relative ease. She saw a figure standing close to the fire. She strained her eyes. Actually there appeared to be two figures, but for some reason the one was hard to see. Sarah took a few timid steps forward and froze. She recognized the one figure as Alec, son of Hades, but it was the other figure that stopped her in her tracks. It was a ghost. As she looked a little closer she could see that the ghost was a woman, middle-aged judging by her height, but that was all she could see. Alec sounded like he was trying not to yell. The ghost tried to say something but he cut her off. He seemed really mad and flustered about something, but it was impossible to make his words out. Sarah's breath came out shallow as she stood transfixed. She shook her head a few times.

_He's not paying attention to me. I think I'll just take a walk around and come back,_ she glanced over her shoulder as she began creeping away and saw Alec wave his hand through the ghost, causing it to disappear.

"Where are you going?" he asked coldly without turning to face her.

"Uh . . ." Sarah decided to change the subject. "Who were you talking to?" Bad move.

Alec's shoulders tensed under his long, black trench coat. "That's none of your concern," he hissed between clenched teeth, still not turning to face her, "and if you are not a complete imbecile, which I'm sure you're not, you will never bring it up again. Where are you going?"

"Just over there," she pointed towards the trees, "I can see the ocean. I just wanted to get a closer look . . ."

"Fine, go ahead." Alec sounded like he didn't particularly care what happened to her. "Just make sure you come back _alive_. If you died, I would get in trouble with the other campers. And although I _know_ I could take them all in a fight, it would be. . . inconvenient."

"Um . . . alright, thanks." Sarah turned and tore down the path towards the woods. As she pushed her way through the trees towards the sound of waves crashing, thoughts raced through her head. _Who was that woman? Why was Alec mad at her? Why did he summon a ghost? How is this possible? _She wasn't really paying attention to her surroundings, and she lost her footing. She tumbled down the hill and landed face-first on the ground, obtaining a mouthful of sand.

"Gross!" Sarah exclaimed as she spat it out. Looking around, she saw that she was lying on a sandy beach bordered by the ocean. She stood up slowly. "Ow!" Her legs were stinging from the tiny cuts she had gotten from her tumble, and the sand only made them hurt more. "I'll just go wash them off." She said out loud to no one in particular. She sat down near the edge of the water and let the waves lap over her legs. They instantly began to feel better. Sarah sighed in contentment. No matter where she went, the water always seemed familiar to her.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Sarah turned and saw a man sitting beside her. He had a short black beard and wore a Bermuda shirt and khaki pants; however it was his eyes that caught Sarah's attention. They were a perfect mix of blue and green, just like the sea, and matched hers.

_Why didn't I notice him before? _She wondered.

"The ocean, I mean," the man continued. He looked at her. "What are you doing out here all alone?"

"Um. . . I just needed to get away from the others." Sarah ran her fingers through her sandy blonde hair. Her mother had always warned her about talking to strangers, but there was something vaguely familiar about this man. "You know, away from the fighting and the responsibilities. I saw the ocean and . . . Well, it's soothing for me just to watch it."

"Ah, I see." The man's eyes twinkled. "Why is that?"

"Well, it's beautiful and mysterious, it's gentle, but it's also very mighty, and it's the only place that feels like home to me."

The man nodded, as if this answer pleased him.

"If you don't mind me asking, who are you?" Sarah asked.

The man smiled. "That I'm going to keep to myself, but I'm sure you'll figure it out."

Sarah narrowed her eyes. "You're here to tell me something, aren't you? What?"

"The path ahead is going to be difficult, but you can't give up on your friends. They don't realize it yet, but you're important. Just remember, you _are_ loved and you are _not_ an outcast."

"And?" Sarah prodded.

"That's it." The man smiled again. "You'll do great. I know it. As well, I see that you're a little short of transportation. Don't worry; I'll talk to a friend of mine about it. He's . . . in the traveling business. Oh, and by the way, I'm sorry it took so long for me to claim you, but you're a hard girl to track down, even for a god."

"Even for a god?" Sarah pondered this for a moment. "Wait a minute . . ." She turned around, but the man was gone and it was just as quiet as it had been before. The only sound was that of the lapping waves. "Poseidon?"

"Sarah!" a voice cried.

Sarah turned around and saw Katie and Micaela running towards her.

"What are you doing? We were worried that a monster had gotten you or—" Katie froze. "Holy crap!"

"What?" Sarah asked. Then she followed Katie's eyes. Hovering above her head was a trident, glowing green against the night sky. The symbol of Poseidon.

"Looks like you just got claimed."


End file.
